Kong Xuan's expression tightened at those words, Wang Xiao's anxious face reflected in his golden pupils.
He frowned slightly, a golden glint flashing through his eyes. He had only just said nothing would happen at the academy, yet reality had slapped him in the face an instant later.
But this was no time to worry about saving face. He needed to find out exactly what had happened.
Kong Xuan hurriedly asked, "What exactly happened?"
With Xu Tianyi's status, even if he could not do whatever he pleased at the academy, surely no one would beat him to death. Who had that much nerve?!
So he suspected there had to be more to this!
Wang Xiao's voice steadied somewhat, but his tone remained urgent. "Xu Tianyi entered the Soul Fighting Arena to fight someone, but he's completely outmatched. He was already injured before I came back."
"Tell us on the way!"
Kong Xuan strode toward the Soul Fighting Arena, and the others immediately followed.
Wang Xiao continued explaining Xu Tianyi's situation. "You all know how damned stubborn Xu Tianyi is. He's injured, but he still won't concede. If they keep fighting, I'm afraid he'll be seriously injured, if not killed."
"Bi Jin has already gone to find a teacher. Hopefully we won't be too late when we get there..."
As class monitor, Kong Xuan enjoyed considerable prestige among his classmates, so when something like this happened, someone not only went to find a teacher, but someone else also came specifically to notify him.
After Wang Xiao's explanation, Kong Xuan had a rough understanding of the situation.
But clearly, Wang Xiao did not know much either. He did not even know who Xu Tianyi's opponent was.
Xu Tianyi was something of a martial fanatic, spending most of his time at the academy immersed in cultivation.
Aside from his classmates, he had little contact with anyone else.
So the question now was, just who was Xu Tianyi's opponent?
If it was a stranger who did not know his identity, logically, they should not be trying to kill him.
If it was an acquaintance who knew his identity, then this was very likely a conflict between nobles.
But anyone who dared lay a hand on a prince's child certainly had no ordinary status either.
Although none of them used their Martial Souls, they jogged the whole way and soon entered the Soul Fighting Zone.
With Wang Xiao leading them, they arrived at Soul Fighting Arena No. 18.
This was a Great Soul Arena with an internal diameter of three hundred meters. Its fighting stage was made from a special soul-guidance metal that could repair damage through Soul Power, so even after a thousand matches, it still looked newly built.
The spectator seats around the Soul Fighting Arena were arranged in tiers, with enough room for fifty thousand spectators. Every seat had a "viewing lens" embedded in it, allowing spectators to freely adjust their viewing angle.
When Kong Xuan followed Wang Xiao inside, he discovered that quite a few people were already seated in the stands. At a glance, there were probably over a thousand.
People were also streaming through the entrance to the Soul Fighting Arena. He guessed someone was spreading the news, deliberately drawing people here.
With that suspicion in mind, Kong Xuan felt that Xu Tianyi might well have been set up today!
Rather than taking seats, they headed straight to the edge of the Soul Fighting Arena.
At that moment, Xu Tianyi was down on one knee in the arena. The purple-gold dragon scales covering his right arm were battered, blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, and his chest heaved violently.
There were also numerous charred burns across his body and legs. Clearly, he had already suffered repeated injuries.
Xu Tianyi's opponent was a youth wearing silver Soul Engineer robes. He hovered in midair, four metal wings spread behind him, holding a long, slender Soul Guidance Ray Gun.
Four Soul Rings, two yellow and two purple, pulsed slowly around him, displaying his cultivation as a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor.
"What? Is that all the Purple Brilliant Heaven Destroying Dragon can do?"
The youth smiled mockingly, even deliberately broadcasting his words throughout the arena through an Amplifying Soul Tool, stirring waves of discussion in the stands.
He raised his hand, and a thin, crimson beam shot from the muzzle of his gun, precisely grazing Xu Tianyi's cheek and leaving a bloody line.
"Dodge. Aren't you so good at running?"
Xu Tianyi gritted his teeth, fury blazing in his purple-gold slit pupils, but his body trembled slightly from his depleted Soul Power.
He suddenly stamped the ground, forcibly mustering the last of his Soul Power. His purple-gold dragon claws tore through the air as he lunged at his opponent.
Yet the youth merely gave a contemptuous smile.
His first Soul Ring flashed, and the soul-guidance wings behind him abruptly accelerated. He shifted several meters sideways like a phantom, effortlessly evading the attack.
At the same time, the Soul Guidance Ray Gun in his hand fired again, this time aimed at Xu Tianyi's right leg.
Bang!
The Soul Guidance Ray struck Xu Tianyi squarely in the right calf. He grunted and fell heavily to the ground, blood seeping from the wound.
At the edge of the Soul Fighting Arena, Xu Wei clenched his fists at the sight, his brows drawing tightly together. Through gritted teeth, he said, "He's humiliating Xu Tianyi!"
Watching her teammate being tormented like this, Kong Ling's little face also turned cold. "He's hurting someone like this in the Soul Fighting Arena, and the teachers won't intervene?"
"That's your classmate, isn't it? His injuries look serious, but they're all just flesh wounds. His opponent is clearly doing this deliberately."
The one answering her was an upperclassman watching beside them. He had been watching longer than they had and naturally knew more of the inside story.
"That classmate of yours is pretty tough himself. He's clearly no match for his opponent, yet he still dared to enter the arena, and even now he refuses to concede."
"Besides, the relationship between those two is no ordinary one."
"In a situation like this, even a teacher couldn't say much."
Kong Xuan caught the key point in the upperclassman's words precisely. It seemed his prediction had been correct: the person attacking Xu Tianyi was probably also a noble, and his status certainly was not low.
In the Soul Fighting Arena, the silver-robed youth's lips curled into a cruel smile. He slowly descended in front of Xu Tianyi and pressed the muzzle against his forehead.
"Concede, little brother!"
"You're very talented, but until you've grown into that talent, you'd better behave yourself in front of me!"
"Otherwise, your big brother will have to properly discipline a useless little brother who shows his elder brother no respect!"
Hearing those words from the silver-robed youth, Kong Ling's eyes instantly widened. She said incredulously, "He's Xu Tianyi's older brother?"
She and her brother had depended on each other since childhood, and their sibling bond ran deep. Naturally, they could not understand why some older brothers would treat their own younger brothers so ruthlessly.
Kong Xuan watched the two in the Soul Fighting Arena and said evenly, "The struggle to become heir has always been this way!"
He now more or less understood what was happening. This silver-robed youth, who bore some resemblance to Xu Tianyi, was his own older brother.
But because there was ultimately only one princely throne, the two were presumably rivals!
Moreover, Xu Tianyi, who had inherited the Purple Brilliant Heaven Destroying Dragon Martial Soul, clearly had greater talent, so his older brother was now using his advantage in cultivation to suppress him.
With how stubborn Xu Tianyi was, he really might end up coming to grief at his older brother's hands.
In the imperial family, blood ties and familial affection were often the most worthless things of all.
Xu Tianyi lifted his head, his gaze abruptly turning vicious, then suddenly jerked his head up and grabbed the gun barrel.
"Xu Tianyang, kill me right here if you have the guts!"
Xu Tianyi was stubborn, but he was no fool. He knew his older brother could not and would not dare take his life in full public view.
"You're courting death!"
Xu Tianyang sneered. With a forceful movement of his right hand, he shook off Xu Tianyi's hand gripping the muzzle.
Though he very much wanted to, he truly did not dare kill his own younger brother right now.
But that did not mean he would not dare strike. He had even decided to hit a little harder and leave his genius younger brother bedridden for a dozen days or more.
He aimed the muzzle at Xu Tianyi's left leg, a cruel smile appearing on his face, and was about to pull the trigger!